Story of a patient who needs five organs from the same donor and a complicated transplant

Luiz Perillo, a 35-year-old architect from Brasilia, Brazil, faces an extremely rare and complicated medical situation: he needs a multivisceral transplant, which includes five different organs from the same donor. Perillo’s wait for a stomach, pancreas, liver, intestine and kidney is a race against time, further complicated by his health condition, thrombophilia, which increases the formation of clots in his body.

This week, Brazil's Ministry of Health took a hopeful step for patients like Perillo in that country, announcing the inclusion of this type of procedure within the Unified Health System (SUS). "It is the hope that my transplant will happen. It increases my chances of finding a compatible donor and being able to return home after so long," said Luiz Perillo, who is currently living in São Paulo to receive specialized treatment.

Multivisceral transplantation is one of the most complex and expensive procedures in medicine today, requiring an advanced surgical center and a large, specialized team. Until the date of its inclusion in the SUS, only four hospitals in the states of São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul were authorized to perform it, severely limiting the options for patients.

Rafael Pinheiro, a doctor who participated in the country's first multivisceral transplant and a specialist in the procedure, welcomed the ministry's decision: "With this, we will be able to treat these patients more effectively, and people will be able to be treated in hospitals across the country."

Perillo, whose disease progressed significantly affecting the portal vein in 2018, has faced long hospital stays and a constant battle for his life. In 2021, his situation worsened when he tried to save his intestine, but ended up suffering from severe malnutrition and becoming dependent on hemodialysis and continuous hospital support.

“I found myself in that situation and I didn't know what the next day would be like, or if my body would hold out,” Perillo said about the most critical days of his illness.

Despite these challenges, she remains hopeful and stresses the importance of organ donation : “One person can save up to eight lives. And it is selfish that knowing this, people do not donate or their families do not allow donation.”

Today, with the new health policy, Perillo and six other patients on the list for a multivisceral transplant have renewed hope of receiving the call that could save their lives.

*This content was rewritten with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on information from O Globo (GDA), and was reviewed by a journalist and an editor.